Are Pharmaceutical Corps. Ethical ?

What isn't implausible is that the low lying fruit in biology has been plucked. Humans --without genetic engineering, nano-tech and some crazy drugs-- have reached a "more or less their max age" range. We're talking roughly 80-85.

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Also a good point.

Some day, newspapers will cry with alarm "People being killed by asteroid strikes on the rise! More people are dying before their 5,000th birthday than ever before. These asteroid strikes every thousand years or so are clearly a new problem were facing. Why is the government dragging their feet on asteroids?"

It's a whimsical example but it makes the point. People weren't living long enough to die of long-term diseases. Cancer is on the rise only because we're cured many things that would have killed us less than a century ago.

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There's a fantastic book by anthropologist, Yuval Harari. He's written two, actually. The first is better than the second. "Homo Sapiens" is a rough history of our species + a bit of exploration of moral and existential issues. The follow-up is "Homo Deus" which is just a skosh speculative for my taste but nevertheless quite good. Some amazing scientists (Edward O. Wilson) write magic when they talk about their field (in Wilson's case, insects especially hymenoptera). But then he chose to write a book, "The Future of Life" where I think he packaged too much of what he wants to see true into what is rational as a prediction about the future.

I digress.

In "Homo Deus", Harari explores the very real fact that the unspoken rule of medicine is to cure death. Not explicitly so, but its implicit in its existence. We won't cure all of the diseases we know of (cancer, infections, etc.), alleviate all physical suffering then say, "Okay. Medicine is done. We'll stick with this." Medical sciences will continue exploring and chipping away at the fringes, identifying one cause of death and addressing it. Eventually the combination of nano-technology, genetic engineering and personally-tailor-made medicines, will increase human life into the centuries ... provide we survive that long as a species, which isn't altogether assured.

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Take, for instance, the Doctor & Nurse who came back from Africa in '15 or '16. They were infected, participated in a pharmaceutical regime, were cured of the infection. Need more anecdotal evidence? How many people a year contract rabies, undergo that regime, then are cured? There are more examples as well.

Take, for instance, the Doctor & Nurse who came back from Africa in '15 or '16. They were infected, participated in a pharmaceutical regime, were cured of the infection. Need more anecdotal evidence? How many people a year contract rabies, undergo that regime, then are cured? There are more examples as well.

...never mind that "proof" only exists in mathematics, algebra and pure logic. We only ever have estimates with shrinking margins of doubt but rarely arriving at 100% in anything. We do a kind-of-sort-of inductive and abductive bit of logic, refine, test, refine and test until we get the margins of doubt within the comfort zone. The idea that big pharma is poisoning us or plotting against us makes me laugh. Right. They've kept it a secret despite employing hundreds of thousands of people around the world. The US government --the world's greatest trainer of secret keepers-- leaks like a goddamned sieve. But a private company somehow has a magic wall that keeps their people in line, in THIS the very Information Age when you can literally disseminate information to the entire world in less time than it takes Lt. Cdr. Data to sift through computer records looking for a mention of someone freezing to death in a shower.

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That's why things like "Gravity" & "Evolution" are only THEORIES!!!

[Okay, I feel sullied after saying that. I couldn't help myself. I'm going to go now.]

Seriously? You can't (or won't) think of any? You have a presupposition as to the 'evil' nature of pharmaceutical companies [let's use the correct term!] so why are you even asking questions? You've wasted all this time & honest effort from everyone who has replied to you.

Seriously? You can't (or won't) think of any? You have a presupposition as to the 'evil' nature of pharmaceutical companies [let's use the correct term!] so why are you even asking questions? You've wasted all this time & honest effort from everyone who has replied to you.

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Have you watched , personaly , someone who has been given chemo drugs , die ?

Have you watched , personaly , someone who has been given chemo drugs , die ?

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Yes, my Mother. Now, I assume you have some point you think you're making. I will tell you that you are not making the point you want. You only sound unrealistic & uninformed. I suggest you do not seek any medical treatment from here on out.

Yes, my Mother. Now, I assume you have some point you think you're making. I will tell you that you are not making the point you want. You only sound unrealistic & uninformed. I suggest you do not seek any medical treatment from here on out.

[Okay, I feel sullied after saying that. I couldn't help myself. I'm going to go now.]

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I feel like you're joking. In case you're not, there's no "only". A theory is a graduation point. Theories are composed of laws. Laws are fundamental principles of the cosmos that can be explained mathematically. A theory explains a complex set of interactions and behaviors.

I feel like you're joking. In case you're not, there's no "only". A theory is a graduation point. Theories are composed of laws. Laws are fundamental principles of the cosmos that can be explained mathematically. A theory explains a complex set of interactions and behaviors.

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Sorry, sarcasm font is obviously on the fritz... Good thing I didn't throw in the Flat Earth stuff, too...

Seriously? You can't (or won't) think of any? You have a presupposition as to the 'evil' nature of pharmaceutical companies [let's use the correct term!] so why are you even asking questions? You've wasted all this time & honest effort from everyone who has replied to you.

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Ahem. That is why many of us have had this poster on "ignore" for some years now. Either deliberate anti-science troll or .......
....as two short planks

True story. So I'm adopted. The guy who raised me (aka, "dad") comes from a lineage of men who are ... ahem ... well known for their physical ... erm ... attributes. Growing up, you see your dad naked and most boys think, "Dad has a big wiener." Because, well, dad is fully grown and the kid isn't. So I just never much thought about it. So, I'm 16 and going to my cousin's wedding (he's a dude, from the patrilineal side) and at the wedding, guys are drunk and the new wife said, "Oh my god. The first time I saw Jarrod's dick, I almost passed out." Now all the Holliday (that's my last name) wives are gathered 'round and a tidal wave of jokes all roughly meaning, "Welcome to the family, they all have huge cocks." And the guys are laughing in the corner, just sort of eating it up.

Have you watched , personaly , someone who has been given chemo drugs , die ?

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I have. My step mom had high grade neuro-endochrine carcinoma. It was extremely fast growing. It was in her left lung. She hadn't smoked in 15 years, but the damage was done. She would have been dead in 2-3 weeks. It was horrific. She went on a very aggressive form of chemo with the knowledge that it only would buy her a year at best. The chemo --of course-- is a poison of its own kind. But when it comes to cancer, we're not always buying a cure. There isn't one. When it comes to this disease, if you choose to, you're buying months to say goodbye instead of days. It was horrible watching her go from this insanely strong woman, to frail and weak in such a short period of time.

It worked. The tumor shrunk to a small tendril, but it wouldn't die. It never does. It just waits. Then the cancer came back. It adapts. It was immune to the chemo. But we had six months with her in relatively high spirits. Her body adapted to the chemo and she would go for walks, out shopping and out to eat every day. We got to talk and tell stories. I finally got a chance to tell the amazing woman who raised me after my mom died (in a car accident) how much I loved her. I'm TERRIBLE at saying that word. But I got a few months to laugh with her and joke around. I'd always gotten on with my step mom really well. We weren't like the TV shows. We had great times and Pam (my step mom) and I had a mutual passion for baking desserts and planting gardens.

So for her last six months, we joked around and talked about stuff. I left nothing on the table. I got to tell her how much I loved her a billion times. But then the last three months she degraded fast. By the time she died, she was taking drops of morphine orally every hour and had two fentanyl patches on her back. In the end, it was respiratory arrest that took her -- so much opiates in the system just basically shut her withering lungs down. But she died with dignity in her home. She got six months added to her life that would've been snuffed out in days.

That's what chemo did. It's the slow death vs. the fast death. Each patient gets to choose -- that's the gift of chemo. You get a choice. Pam Holliday chose a few extra months to make sure her family was in order and that all the things left unsaid wouldn't sit like a millstone around the necks of the people who loved her. Pam died this past February, 2017. Death is rarely dignified, but her's was damned near close to it.

True story. So I'm adopted. The guy who raised me (aka, "dad") comes from a lineage of men who are ... ahem ... well known for their physical ... erm ... attributes. Growing up, you see your dad naked and most boys think, "Dad has a big wiener." Because, well, dad is fully grown and the kid isn't. So I just never much thought about it. So, I'm 16 and going to my cousin's wedding (he's a dude, from the patrilineal side) and at the wedding, guys are drunk and the new wife said, "Oh my god. The first time I saw Jarrod's dick, I almost passed out." Now all the Holliday (that's my last name) wives are gathered 'round and a tidal wave of jokes all roughly meaning, "Welcome to the family, they all have huge cocks." And the guys are laughing in the corner, just sort of eating it up.

I'm adopted. Goddammit.

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I take this family did not all work at Salomon Bros in the 80s, did they? If you have read Michael Lewis's "Liar's Poker", you will know what I'm talking about!

Sadly, I don't get the reference. Care to give me the Cliff's Notes of the Cliff's Notes?

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The Saloman bond traders and salesmen who made successful deals, especially by offloading lousy investment products onto hapless customers, would get a call from a board member, saying "How are ya, ya big swinging dick?!". The top rank of traders were in fact known collectively as Big Swinging Dicks.

It's a great (and accurately autobiographical) book about the macho-ed up Gordon Gekko era on Wall St. My personal favourite moment is during the crash of 1987, when Lewis comments that, "it was striking how little we were in control of events, in spite of smoking huge cigars and saying fuck all the time."